The Financial Services Institute and Financial Services Roundtable are pressuring the Department of Labor to release a "progress report" on the department's redrafting of its rule amending the definition of fiduciary under ERISA, citing a list of criteria lawmakers laid out for DOL to adhere to in reworking its reproposed rule.
But a spokesman for DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration told AdvisorOne on Tuesday that EBSA will not be releasing a "progress report" before its fiduciary reproposal is released. "Our reproposal, when complete, will provide ample opportunity for public comment, both on the proposed rule itself and on our assessment of its likely effects," the DOL spokesman told AdvisorOne.
EBSA's regulatory agenda for 2012 says its reproposed rule amending the definition of fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act is projected to be released in May.
Dale Brown (left), FSI's president and CEO, said in a statement that "All along, FSI has called for DOL to 'withdraw and re-propose,' not withdraw and walk away. So we fully expected and urged DOL to come back with a more appropriate rule based off a true picture of the problem they're trying to solve. Letters from a long, bipartisan roster of members of Congress reinforce the same desire to get these rule changes right. Yet, we still have no idea what the problem is, while we're told they are working on a solution."
In response, the DOL spokesman said that the "problem [DOL] is addressing in the re-proposal has been clear since this process began–to help retirement plans and IRA owners get good, reliable investment advice–advice that puts their interests first. We are making good progress as we make every effort to get this right."
